What is surprising is how little we know about each of these deaths. The United States uses no consistent means to determine what went wrong. Accountability is essential when it comes to your right to the highest attainable standard of health. It entails addressing past grievances, monitoring progress, correcting failures in the healthcare system. It also should reduce disparities when it comes to people accessing health care. But all this starts with answering the simple question, “what went wrong?”

The US Centers for Disease Control is working to support this type of review in states. This is an important first step, even if more work needs to be done.

After knowing what went wrong, the next question to ask is, “what are the solutions?” The Black Mamas Matter Alliance, a Black-women led group that seeks to advance policy grounded in a human rights framework, just launched the inaugural national Black Maternal Health Week. There are many steps needed to end preventable maternal deaths in the US, but this week is an opportunity for local, state, and federal government officials – as well as all stakeholders – to reflect on what a participatory, rights-grounded approach to valuing and saving the lives of Black women and their infants should look like.

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